Ran Hwang

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About the artwork

Exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum, this piece created by Ran Hwang depicts traditional Korean roof forms, composed from hundreds of buttons suspended from metal pins protruding from a white ground. The roof structures depicted are based on Joseon dynasty palaces and Buddhist temples in Seoul—but the artist exaggerates the curvature of the rooftops and places the structures on a precious, precarious foundation of chandelier-like forms. These alterations, together with the slight movement of the suspended buttons, suggest that the structures could fly away or scatter on the wind of the title.

About the artist

Ran Hwang is a contemporary New York based, South Korean artist known for her intricate and visually stunning installations. Born in 1960 in South Korea, Ran Hwang graduated with a Bachelors in Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts, New York, and subsequently went on to attain her Masters Degree in Fine Arts at the Graduate School of Arts Chung-Ang University in Seoul, Korea. 

Ran Hwang creates iconic artworks that embody her in-depth contemplation with the nature of cyclical life, non-visibility and the beauty of transient glamor. Her earlier career in the fashion industry and the personal memories of 9/11 attack have led her to adopt everyday materials into the delicate and dramatic works. Her installations, often created with thousands of pins, buttons, and beads, evoke a sense of meditative tranquility and intricate beauty.

She has won Gold Prize by AHL Foundation NY in 2004 and Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 2015. Her works are internationally acclaimed in galleries and museums around the world.